The summer pattern has prevailed this week on Barnegat Bay and if you have ever studied about pattern fishing you will catch fish every time. Well almost….. Hard afternoon southerlies have made fishing down right difficult. Around the inlet short to keeper bass are still available for those willing to leave the morning coffee brewing. If you know what I am saying. I have had some great sessions throwing BKDs and even had one of my client’s box a bass in between the shorts and blues. The bluefish that I have encountered are all over the place when it comes to size. You land a two pounder, then one around 10 pounds, then another around four. Not complaining, my trips have been a lot of fun with light tackle. I have found the fluke bite still hot when you catch the right tide at the right place. I am talking 10 or more fish an hour. Lots of shorts but enough fillets for a dinner or two. Can’t remember when I have seen this many small fluke this early on. I’m talking 12” and under. In most of the years past, I have seen countless small fluke close to the inlet come August, not now. Crabbing in my neck of the woods, or should I say Bay, remains solid.

On the nature side of things: I spent an afternoon this week with Ben Wurst from Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ and another volunteer surveying Osprey nests on the western part of Barnegat Bay from Barnegat to the Causeway. This was some super cool stuff. The kind of stuff I dreamt about doing when I was a kid. The mission was to do a census of young ospreys. Those that were old enough to be banded were. Those that were too young will get banded in the near future. The nests ranged from no sign of eggs or chicks to three pretty big chicks. At one nest, when Ben climbed up to check it he got to witness a chick just starting to poke its head out of the shell. Going to switch it up and attach some pictures from the Osprey survey instead of fishing. While going from nest to nest it was amazing to see how many schools of very small peanut bunker there were. Hopefully, that sets the tone for the fall run. I have a busy schedule already for the week ahead but there are still a few prime time open if you are looking to get out. Also, once the water temp off the beach stabilizes I will before offering again off the beach sharking trips (just off the breakers to five miles out). The typical action on one of these trips is multiple hook-ups with hard fighting sharks in the 40-80 pound class.  I use  7′ Okuma Pez Vela rods with matching 30-pound class conventional reels.  These outfits were designed for pitching baits to Pacific Sailfish making them a perfect fit for inshore sharking. If this kind of trip interests you give me a call and before you know it you may here click,     click,  clickkkkkkkkkkkkk shark on!

Living the dream,

Capt. Alex 609-548-2511

If fish are in schools, why don’t they read the books about fishing? With all of the south wind, we have had the ocean temp along the beach has dropped well into the 50’s. So my plan of attack for striped bass was to catch the incoming, colder water when they should be feeding. During Friday’s charter with the Lozitto clan we went looking for bass on the last of incoming.  After reading the books saying bass like colder water, and with the bay close to 80 I looked to incoming to target them.  With water temps down to a chilly 54 degrees pouring over the rocks, you would have thought the bass bite would be on fire.  Wrong. With nothing happening, we switched over to catch the warm out going water in the back and found that the fluke read the book.  We did not box any but had plenty of fish coming over the gunwales. Sunday morning I caught the last off outgoing around the inlet.  Surface water temp was low 70’s and both bluefish and bass (that’s right bass chewing big time in warm water) were getting an early morning meal. Lots of action till about 6:45 when the current went slack. Today, Monday, morning I had Mike Petrazzello and Dianne out.  We hit the inlet first and found the fish chewing again under the same conditions as Sunday. Mike landed a keeper bass and a couple blues to 8 pounds. One thing for sure, there are some books either the bass don’t care about or they need to be re-written.

For two weeks now the fish have been catching around the inlet are loaded with 3-4” sandells.. And on the last two trips I used BKDs for the bass and bluefish because they are great sandell imitations. What I also like about them is that even though they are plastic they hold up pretty good under the demands put on them by bluefish. If you know what I am saying.  I think I landed five blues Sunday morning before I had to put a new one on.  I am not saying they are indestructible, just saying they hold up really well to the razor sharp teeth of bluefish while being an excellent lure in my arsenal. Have some slots open for morning, afternoon or magic hours trips this week so contact me by phone if you want to plan a trip.

Screaming drags,

Capt. Alex 609-548-2511

Happy belated Father’s Day to all the dads out there.  I spent most of the day with my family but did slip out before they got out of bed.  By 6 AM the south wind was already blowing 15+ and the outgoing current started earlier than predicted. Fluking conditions were tough, to put it mildly.  I picked up a few shots before calling it a morning.  The ocean has just been down right angry the last few days and not many boats have been able to venture out.  The inlet still has lots of fish but fishing conditions are difficult.  This south wind has dropped the ocean temp which means one thing, well maybe two.  The closer you are to the inlet the less likely you are to catch fluking on the flood, look for warmer water condition to increase your success. Fishing 101.  The other thing is bass in the normal June haunts will be chewing around high tide.  I hope to get at them to give one of them their invitation to dinner.  As it stands I am booked Tuesday and Friday morning.  Other times including magic hours, except for today Monday are open.

On the nature side of thing/PSA: it is diamondback terrapin egg laying time. Keep an eye out when driving around close to the bay.  Females exist the bay to lay their eggs on higher, sandy ground.  Terrapins are the only brackish water turtle in the world. Also, remember if you are using Maryland style crab pots you must adhere to the following laws:

• Purchase on $2.00 crab pot license
• Your license number must be on your floats.
• When deploying them in a water body that is 150’ wide or less you are required to have turtle excluding devices (pictured below).  Terrapins need to breathe air and when they enter a Maryland style/commercial style crab pot they most often die of drowning.

Screaming drags,

Capt. Alex 609-548-2511

Spent almost my entire day on Barnegat Bay and I have a lot to say.  After sun up I deployed my two “Maryland style” crab pots baited with fresh frozen bunker. Yes, that is an oxymoron. After that, I fluked before picking up my first trip of the day which was an eco tour.  Releasing two short on short notice I picked up the Rubin party.  I took them back behind Sedge Island and Gull Island to name a few.  Lots of things to see, and as always, I told lots of stories. Just ask any of my students. After that, I picked up my now annual fishermen from Pennsylvania Amish County. I find it interesting to learn the about the diverse cultures of those that make up the fabric of the United States. With the inlet a little dicey we chose to go to the back bay.  Working hard to put them on fish, I found the right conditions and the fluke were chewing.  They must of C&Red 20 fish in under an hour. Running all the way across Barnegat Bay and some 5,000 miles from Dutch Harbor, the Debbie M was on the crab! With about a 10 plus hour soak, the pots were loaded with crab.  From two pots I filled a four-gallon bucket with Jimmies, many of them big and full.  Bottom line, crabbing is excellent. I still have still have some openings for this upcoming week so give me a shout if you are looking to head out.

Last night the magic hour lived up to its name.  Before then I caught some of the outgoing tide in some of the channels behind Barnegat Light.  With bay temperatures at 78 outgoing was close to that.  I talked to two anglers that had fished through incoming noting the water temp went as low as 60. As if the fluke read the textbook they did not feed much on the colder side of the tide preferring the warmer ebb. I spent about an hour fluking and C&R about a dozen shorts.  After that, I headed over to the inlet for the magic hour hoping to catch some cooler water and a few bass.  With the water still warm but the first cast set the tone.  Bluefish in the 2-4 pound range were on the feed and in excellent numbers.  In fact, it was the best bluefishing I have experienced this year. Nonstop, light tackle, screaming drags for an hour. The blues were popping up from time to time and when on em it was blitz conditions.  It did not matter what I threw: BKDs; metals; or bucktails. I left them biting. Schools now out and I am running full time.  I am booked tomorrow morning but am available for an afternoon magic hour trip.  Also, this weekend is open for last minute booking.

Screaming drags, Capt. Alex

609-548-2511

Was out Friday evening and Saturday morning.  Friday I had  Debbie M on board the Debbie M for some evening fluking. We caught the last of outgoing and the beginning of incoming. It was kind of strange but the current never went slack around low tide. It was going one way and then just started going the other.  We had solid action with fluke but no keepers. At one point I was trying to tie a rig to fish the second rod and it just could not do it because I was busy landing five fluke one after the other.  Saturday I had the Frank Sutton group on for a quick bluefish and bass trip.  They landed a handful of bluefish to about 6 pounds but no bass.  With incoming tide around 58 deg thought we would have landed a few stripers. Guess they were waiting for Sunday morning tide if you know what I mean. Attached is a picture of Frank with his 13-year-old son will. With school ending Thursday, I will be available 7 days/evenings a week.  In addition to charters, I will be launching (get it) my new LBI eco-kayak tours through the Long Beach Island Foundation of Arts and Sciences.  I hope to be up and paddling by the end of this month. The planned two-hour destinations will be Clam Island in Barnegat Light and Bonnet Island in Ship Bottom. With close to 40 years on Barnegat Bay and a true passion for the environment, it makes sense that I should start sharing all of the marvels that Barnegat Bay has to offer.  Whether you want to get out fishing or on an eco-tour give me a call.

Screaming drags,

Capt. Alex 609-548-2511

I have 2 of 3 spots left for open boat Magic Hour Trip this Thursday June 1. 4-8 PM Bay / inlet bass, blues, & fluke $125 pp Weather looks great and the fishing is hot!

Capt. Alex 609 548-2511

I have been on Barnegat Bay every day since Friday. Fishing for target species, bass, fluke and now fluke, is consistent to on fire at times. Friday’s trip had a mix of bass (one keeper) and blues. The DeCicco party on Saturday started off with non-stop bluefish action during the last of outgoing. Fish ranged from 2-10 pound. Great fun on light tackle. Once tide swung around and the water cooled off the blues shut off but the bass turned on. Attached is a picture of Nick DeCicco with a nice bass. Nick was one of my students who graduated from BHS last year. His dad has been coming out with me for years, but this is the first time Nick came out. It was nice to see that not only did I teach Nick in the classroom but on the water 😉 Today I snuck out for two hours. Wind was a little hard out of the NE but the eastern part of the bay had plenty of windbreaks holding fish. I started by landing a couple 4-5 lb. blues on BKDs. Catching the last hour of outgoing I found a steady pick of 16-17” fluke. Snot grass was a little bit of a problem. Although it was supposed to be low tide the bay was still as high or higher than a “normal” high tide.

On the nature side of things: This month’s full and new moons usually mean horseshoe crabs will be mating and laying eggs. Considered living fossils they are not crabs, although their name suggests that. They are closely related to arachnid (spiders). Because they carry a copper substance in their blood it is blue. Their blood contains amebocytes, which is a cell that coagulates around pathogens. Because of that, about a half million are harvest every year for the medical industry. The blood is taken out and the crab is then released back to Delaware Bay. Some survive this process, some don’t. The time at which horseshoe crab lay their eggs along the Delaware Bay shore is inherently known by several species of shorebirds. One of those species, the Red Knot, has is timed so perfectly that they migrate to the Delaware Bay shore from their wintering grounds in Argentina to feast on the eggs. Often flying for seven to eight days straight, the red knots will put their lost weight back on, doubling it in 2-3 weeks of feeding on the eggs. These birds will then complete the rest of their journey flying to the arctic tundra to reproduce only to fly south to the other end of the hemisphere a few weeks later. Isn’t Mother Nature amazing?

Screaming drags,

Capt. Alex  609-548-2511